Netbook/notebook reliability study shows that technology breaks ...
Interesting research by SquareTrade which looked at the failure rate of 30,000 notebooks and netbookscovered by SquareTrade Laptop Warranty plans.
Highlights from the study:
- Looking at the first 3 years of ownership, 31% of laptop owners reported a failure to SquareTrade. Two-thirds of this failure (20.4%) came from hardware malfunctions, and one-third (10.6%) was reported as accidental damage.
- Netbooks are projected to have a 20% higher failure rate from hardware malfunctions than more expensive laptop computers.
- ASUS and Toshiba were the most reliable manufacturers, with fewer than 16% having a hardware malfunction over 3 years.
A case for buying a warranty plan, no? Interesting how the accident rate increases dramatically between year one and year two - seems people take better care of their new shiny toys.
More expensive the portable, the less likely it is to dies on you ... barely.
The vendors to buy from, and those to possibly avoid.
Again, the more you pay for a portable, the less troublesome it might be, although the difference isn't that significant.
I'm not sure if I would read too much into this data given that it's based on a third party involved in warranty issues. There's no breakdown give as to the malfunction suffered by the machines. Also, I feel that all data relating to accidents doesn't really mean that much either given that in my experience people who have warranties that cover accidental damage seem to suffer more accidents. Wonder why?
Grab a copy of the full report here (PDF).